The road to hell is paved with good intentions | EnglishClub The road to hell is paved with good intentions This page is about the saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". Possible interpretation: 1) People who believe they are doing good can end up doing bad (the law of unintended consequences). 2) There is no value in simply planning to do good if you don't actually do it. Origin: This proverb may have its roots in a statement in French by St Bernard of Clairvaux (c.1150): "L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs." ("Hell is full of good intentions or desires.") hell (noun): (according to various religions) a place of suffering where bad people go after death paved with: covered with; constructed with; made of intention (noun): a plan; an aim Quick Quiz: the road to hell is paved with good intentions | word histories the road to hell is paved with good intentions Promises and plans must be put into action, otherwise they are useless. ORIGIN Versions of this proverb exist in several European languages; for example, the French one is l’enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions.

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) attributed the maxim to St Bernard in a letter he wrote to madame de Chantal on 21st November 1604: J’ajoute ce matin, jour sainte Cécile, que le proverbe tiré de notre saint Bernard : L’enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs, ne vous doit nullement troubler. translation: I add this morning, St Cécile’s day, that the proverb taken from our St Bernard: Hell is full of good intentions or desires, must not in the least trouble you. But this proverb has not been found in the works of St Bernard. The earliest known English versions similarly do not refer to hell, or the road to hell, being paved, but simply being filled with good intentions. It has been suggested that the versions mentioning paving were influenced by the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, 21:10, in the King James Bible (1611): The way of sinners is made plain with stones, but at the end thereof is the pit of hell.

In the Latin Vulgate (late 4th century), this verse (21:11, not 21:10) is: via peccantium conplanata lapidibus et in fine illorum inferi et tenebrae et poena In the Douay-Rheims Bible (1610), the translation of the Vulgate is: The way of sinners is made plain with stones, and in their end is hell, and darkness, and pains.

In English, the earliest known occurrence of the proverb is found in A letter vnto the Duke of Alba, Sir Frederique of Toledo, in the whiche is entreated of infirmities, and the profites of the same, from The familiar epistles of Sir Anthony of Gueuara, preacher, chronicler, and counceller to the Emperour Charles the fifth (1574), a translation by Edward Hellowes (floruit 1574-1601): Your Lordship writeth vnto me, that you also haue béen ill, & that you thinke all your sicknesse to be well employed, as well for that you féele your selfe recouered, as also that you finde your selfe affected with a holy purpose to departe from sin, and to abstaine from excesse in eating.

My Lord, I am sory with all my heart that you haue ben sicke, and it pleaseth me very much that you stand vppon so good a purpose, although it be very true, that I wold more reioyce to sée you performe, than to heare you promise: for hell is full of good desires, and heauen is full of good workes. In Outlandish Proverbs, selected by Mr. G. H. (1640), by the Church of England clergyman and poet George Herbert (1593-1633), the adage is: Hell is full of good meanings and wishings. The version found in A Collection of English Proverbs (1678), by John Ray (1627-1705), is: Hell is full of good meanings and wishes.

However, paving had been mentioned as early as 1654 in The Rising Sun: Or The Sun of Righteousnesse, Shining upon the Sons of Unrighteousnesse, by John Sheffield, “Preacher of the Gospel at Swithins, London”: But there are lazy desires which hell is paved with and full of, the desire of the sluggard killeth him. Sheffield also quoted that Germane Proverb, Hell is paved with the Crests of Gallants, and skuls of Monks, (the two most idle Societies or Fraternities.) Similarly, in A Beautifull Swan With Two Black Feet. Or, Magistrates Deity, attended with Mortality & Misery (1658), Henry Symons, “Minister of the Gospel at Southfleet in Kent”, wrote: The greatest punishments in hell are prepared for the greatest persons : So that I may safely conclude with that usual saying, Hell is paved with Priests skuls, and Princes headpieces. Magistrates and Ministers that have been evil, shall have the lowest places, the hottest holes in hell, among the worst of devils. In French too, paving had appeared by the mid-17th century.

In Les Triomphes évangéliques. Carême prêché dans l’Eglise Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois (1665), Léon de Saint-Jean wrote: Dieu veut des fruits, non pas des fleurs. Il veut des œuvres, non des désirs : des effets, non des promesses ; des actions véritables, non des belles paroles. Car l’enfer est pavé de ces fleurs, & le paradis comme un grenier & une cave n’est remplie que de fruits. [...] Ce ne sont pas des volontés, mais des velléités. [...] Sachez que l’enfer est pavé de ces demi-volontés. translation: God wants fruits, not flowers. He wants deeds, not desires: effects, not promises; genuine actions, not fine words. For hell is paved with those flowers, and heaven (is) like a granary and a cellar is only filled with fruits. [...] These are not commitments, but velleities. [...] Let me tell you that hell is paved with these half-commitments.

The earliest use of hell is paved with good intentions that I could find is in The Almost Christian : A Sermon Preached at St. Mary’s Oxford, before the University, On July 25. 1741, by the preacher and co-founder of Methodism John Wesley (1703-91): Do good Designs and good Desires make a Christian? By no Means, unless they are brought to good Effect. “Hell is paved, saith one, with good Intentions.” And the earliest occurrence of the road to hell is paved with good intentions that I have found is in Notes and Queries of 6th July 1850. A contributor wrote A note of admiration!, in which he criticised Sir Walter Scott for writing, in a letter to Miss Joanna Baillie, dated 12th October 1825: I well intended to have written from Ireland, but alas!

as some stern old divine says, ‘Hell is paved with good intentions.’ According to this contributor: The authentic and emphatical figure in the saying is, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions;” and it was uttered by the “stern old divine,” whoever he might be, as a warning not to let “good intentions” miscarry for want of being realised at the time and upon the spot. Similarly, the Manx preacher Hugh Stowell Brown (1823-86) titled one of his Lectures for the People (1859) The Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions, and explained: But to our proverb. There are two versions of it, “Hell is paved with good intentions,” and “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I have chosen the latter, and I will tell you why. The road to hell is paved with good intentions was included in A complete alphabet of proverbs, the last part of A handbook of proverbs. Comprising an entire republication of Ray’s collection of English proverbs, with his additions from foreign languages.

And a complete alphabetical index; in which are introduced large additions, as well of proverbs as of sayings, sentences, maxims, and phrases (1855), by Henry George Bohn. 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions' - the meaning and origin of this phrase Famous Last Words Browse phrases beginning with: The road to hell is paved with good intentions more like this...more like this... Proverbs Meaning The intention to engage in good acts often fails. It points up the principle that there is no merit in good intentions unless they are acted on. Origin The origin of almost all proverbs is shrouded by the mists of time. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of claimants to the authorship of 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'. The expression is often attributed to the Cistercian abbot Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153). This attribution was made by St Francis de Sales in Correspondence: Lettres d'Amitié Spirituelle (written in 1640 and printed in 1980).

The de Sales version was 'l'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs', which translates as ‘hell is full of good intentions and wishes’. The five hundred year gap and the fact that the text isn't found in the works of St Bernard suggests that we can discount Francis's account. And... just when you've waited five hundred years for one St. Bernard myth, along comes a second. St. Bernard rescue dogs don't carry casks of brandy around their necks to give drinks to people who are stranded in snowdrifts. That idea comes from a painting by the popular Victorian painter Sir Edwin Landseer. His 1820 painting Alpine Mastiffs Reanimating a Distressed Traveller shows such a scene and the image entered the public consciousness. However, Landseer made it up, it never happened. Back to the proverb. Early English versions don't refer to the road to hell or suggest that such a road was paved, but simply state that hell was filled with good intentions. In more recent times there is always a mention of paving.

This adaptation may have been influenced by Ecclesiasticus 21:10: The way of sinners is made plain with stones, but at the end thereof is the pit of hell. The person who made the 'paved' version popular appears to have been James Boswell in The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D.,1791, who is second favourite after Saint Bernard as the suggested author of this proverb: No saint, however, in the course of his religious warfare, was more sensible of the unhappy failure of pious resolves, than Johnson. He said one day, talking to an acquaintance on this subject, "Sir Hell is paved with good intentions." Johnson didn't coin the phrase however. In 1670, the English theologian John Ray published A Collection of English Proverbs, in which he used the version that Johnson later quoted. The 'road' element was added even later. The first time that the complete proverb 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions' appears in print is in Henry G. Bohn's A Hand-book of Proverbs, 1855. Neither Bohn nor Ray claimed to have coined the phrase, they were collectors, not originators.

As to who did coin the phrase. I intended to discover that and to let you know but, regrettably, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. the road to hell is paved with good intentions Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary the road to hell is paved with good intentions saying › said to emphasize that you must not simply intend to behave well but you must act according to your intentions , because you will have problems or be punished if you do not (Definition of “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press) Translations of “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions: Not Samuel Johnson! The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page -> Apocrypha -> The Road to Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Although many people believe that Samuel Johnson said "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," he shouldn't get credit for this one. Johnson said something close, but he was following in others' footsteps.

In Boswell's Life of Johnson, in an entry marked April 14, 1775, Boswell quotes Johnson as saying (on some other occasion), "Hell is paved with good intentions." Note, no prefatory "the road to..." Boswell's editor, Malone, added a footnote indicating this is a 'proverbial sentence,' and quoting an earlier 1651 source (yet still not in the common wording). Robert Wilson, in the newsgroup alt.quotations, provided two other sources prior to Johnson. John Ray, in 1670, cited as a proverb "Hell is paved with good intentions." Even earlier than that, it's been attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), as "Hell is full of good intentions or desires." Just how it got to the road to Hell being paved this way, and not Hell itself, I don't know. For more of what Johnson is thought to have said, but didn't, see the Apocrypha page. 14 "Verses" not in the Bible 14.

ï¿½Honk if you love Jesus!ï¿½ (1/13/14) Read Jeremiah 7:1-10; Matthew 6:1-6. What the Bible really says: Matthew 6:1-2 ï¿½ ï¿½Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven. Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward.ï¿½ Have you ever wanted the scripture reference for ï¿½Cleanliness is next to Godlinessï¿½? Or maybe ï¿½God helps those who help themselvesï¿½? Weï¿½ll see those two and a dozen others, including todayï¿½s nonexistent ï¿½verse,ï¿½ ï¿½Honk if you love Jesus!ï¿½ I admit that you probably donï¿½t think ï¿½Honk if you love Jesus!ï¿½ is in the Bible.

But give it another 50 years, and many people will believe it is. What the Bible actually says is that God is not fooled by noisy displays of false piety. I especially like Matthew 6:2 ï¿½ ï¿½Don't blow a trumpet like the hypocrites do in the streets so that they will be praised by people.ï¿½ The next time you see this bumper sticker, just wave. 13. ï¿½The road to hell is paved with good intentionsï¿½ (1/14/14) Read Mark 9:43-48; Matthew 23:23-33. What the Bible really says: Mark 9:43-48 ï¿½ ï¿½If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out!

It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.ï¿½ If we have good intentions but things donï¿½t turn out the way they should, we say, ï¿½Itï¿½s the thought that counts.ï¿½ If they have good intentions but things donï¿½t turn out the way they should, we say, ï¿½The road to hell is paved with good intentions.ï¿½ As a matter of fact, the Bible doesnï¿½t say either one of those things. The Bible says pretty clearly that the road to hell is paved with sin. Donï¿½t go there. 12. ï¿½Cleanliness is next to Godliness.ï¿½ (1/15/14) Read Mark 7:1-8, 14-23. What the Bible really says: Mark 7:14-15, 20-23 ï¿½ Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ï¿½Listen to me, everyone, and understand.

There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him.ï¿½ ... He said, ï¿½What comes out of a person defiles him. For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. All these evils come from within and defile a person.ï¿½ Fellow-reader Susan writes to say she has a friend who calls these non-Biblical ï¿½versesï¿½ the book of ï¿½Second Opinions.ï¿½ HAHAHahaha! Todayï¿½s verse from 2 Opinions is ï¿½Cleanliness is next to Godliness.ï¿½ I was surprised to learn that this saying, in the exact form that we have it, seems to originate with our own John Wesley (see Sermon 88 On Dress), according to Thomas Kidd, a history professor at Baylor University in Texas. Wesley had it in quotation marks, however, which suggests that it was already widely used.

Some websites go on and on about this ï¿½verseï¿½ and Peterï¿½s vision in Acts 10. Bulletin: Biblical cleanness has just about nothing to do with cleanliness. Clean in the Bible means ï¿½ritually acceptable,ï¿½ and unclean means ï¿½ritually unacceptable.ï¿½ Washing in water is, as a matter of fact, one way of making some items clean, but no amount of scrubbing could make a pig clean. Jesus says the same thing is true of us: if our hearts are not clean, no amount of scrubbing will help us. 11. ï¿½Spare the rod and spoil the child.ï¿½ (1/16/14) Read Proverbs 13:24. What the Bible really says: Proverbs 13:24 ï¿½ The one who spares his rod hates his child, but the one who loves his child is diligent in disciplining him.

ï¿½Spare the rod and spoil the childï¿½ is an old saw that apparently originated with Samuel Butler, 17th century British poet, in his satirical poem ï¿½Hudibras.ï¿½ I think it probably says more about the speaker than about the Bible. One of my sons had to be spanked in order to get his attention, and another one rarely needed more than a strong word. Consequently, I have no particular horse in this race, and I am amused that translation teams are all over the map on Proverbs 13:24. ï¿½Spare the rodï¿½ clearly comes from this verse, but thereï¿½s nothing in it about ï¿½spoiling the child.ï¿½ Remember that hate/love is a Hebrew idiom that rarely contrasts real hate and real love; instead it normally means ï¿½love lessï¿½ and ï¿½love more.ï¿½ 10. ï¿½Money is the root of all evil.ï¿½ (1/17/14) Read 1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19.

What the Bible really says: 1 Timothy 6:9-10 ï¿½ Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains. Of course we all know that Paul did not say, ï¿½Money is the root of all evil.ï¿½ Paul said, ï¿½The love of moneyï¿½ ï¿½ which is a very different thing ï¿½ ï¿½is the root of all evil.ï¿½ In fact, Paul goes on in the same passage to give instructions on how the wealthy are to put money to good use, which he hardly would have done if he thought money was intrinsically evil. I was surprised to learn today that the Revised Version, daughter of the King James Version, says ï¿½all kinds of evil,ï¿½ and a number of modern English translations follow the RV.

I looked at the Greek and at The Expositorï¿½s Greek New Testament, and ï¿½all kinds ofï¿½ just isnï¿½t in there. Paul wasnï¿½t given to qualifying remarks; however, Iï¿½m sure that if we asked him, heï¿½d admit that plenty of evil springs from other sources as well. 9. ï¿½God moves in mysterious ways.ï¿½ (1/20/14) Read Isaiah 55:6-9, Isaiah 65:1-3a, and Jeremiah 29:10-14. What the Bible really says: Isaiah 65:1-2 ï¿½ ï¿½I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; I appeared to those who did not look for me. I said, ï¿½Here I am! Here I am!ï¿½ to a nation that did not invoke my name. I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable, and who did what they desired.

Jeremiah 29:11-14a ï¿½ For I know what I have planned for you,ï¿½ says the Lord. ï¿½I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, I will make myself available to you,ï¿½ says the Lord. ï¿½ Isaiah 55:6-7 shows that the reason we canï¿½t understand God is that we are wicked and unrighteous. ï¿½My thoughts are not your thoughtsï¿½ is a criticism of Godï¿½s people, not a boast about Godï¿½s superiority. (God is superior, of course, but I donï¿½t think thatï¿½s what this passage is mainly about.) In Isaiah 65 and Jeremiah 29, God seems to say we could understand his ways if we would just listen.

God calls us all the time; we donï¿½t listen. God promises to let himself be found; we donï¿½t search. Is it any wonder that we think ï¿½God moves in mysterious waysï¿½? 8. ï¿½Pride goes before a fall.ï¿½ (1/21/14) Read Proverbs 16:18. What the Bible really says: Proverbs 16:18 ï¿½ Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. ï¿½Pride goes before a fallï¿½ is one of those sayings that are close enough to what the Bible says that it may seem like quibbling to point out that itï¿½s not actually in the Bible. The problem is the slippery slope. If we allow this one, whatï¿½s next? 7. ï¿½Everything happens for the best.ï¿½ (1/22/14) Read Genesis 50:20, Romans 6:1-2, 8:28-39.

What the Bible really says: Romans 8:28 ï¿½ And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. You often hear that ï¿½Everything happens for the best.ï¿½ Absolutely not; sin never happens for the best, and thereï¿½s nothing good about evil. God can use evil for good, as we see in Genesis 50:20, but all in all, God would much rather use good for good, as Paul reminds us in Romans 6:1-2. Todayï¿½s non-verse distorts several scriptural ideas, most importantly Romans 8:28, which tells that everything ï¿½ which includes Godï¿½s use of evil and suffering ï¿½ works together for good for those who love God. (Iï¿½m sorry to say that the Bible doesnï¿½t say that everything works together for good for those who donï¿½t love God.) 6.

ï¿½In Adamï¿½s fall, we sinned all.ï¿½ (1/23/14) Read Jeremiah 31:29-30, Ezekiel 18:1-4, Romans 3:23. What the Bible really says: Ezekiel 18:1-4 ï¿½ The word of the Lord came to me: ï¿½What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ï¿½ï¿½The fathers eat sour grapes And the childrenï¿½s teeth become numb?ï¿½ ï¿½As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore! Indeed! All lives are mine ï¿½ the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one who sins will die. Romans 5:12 ï¿½ So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned.

ï¿½In Adamï¿½s fall, we sinned allï¿½is the New-England Primerï¿½s (1690) summary of Augustinian doctrine on original sin. For an exhausting discussion of ï¿½doctrineï¿½ vs. ï¿½scripture,ï¿½ go here . The summary is this: scripture is the word of God, and doctrine is something that the Church ï¿½ or sometimes a church ï¿½ teaches. When scripture is straightforward, doctrine usually lines up with it, and we should, too. When scripture is obscure or silent, doctrine tends to vary, so read the Bible for yourself, and make up your own mind. What scripture says in numerous places is that weï¿½ve all committed sins, and we die for our own sins. Augustine taught ï¿½ and practically everyone in the Western Church follows this teaching ï¿½ that because Adam sinned, we all inherit sin from him.

This supposedly inherited sin is ï¿½original sin.ï¿½ Augustine did not read Greek at all well, and he based his idea on Romans 5:12 in a Latin translation in which Romans 5:12 is simply wrong. Even the revered King James Version says that Adamï¿½s sin resulted in death for all of us, not sin. In fact the doctrinal position of the Eastern Church is that we inherit death from Adam, not sin, so rest assured that whatever you believe on the topic of original sin, lots of Christians agree with you. However, do not believe that ï¿½In Adamï¿½s fall, we sinned allï¿½ is in the Bible, because it isnï¿½t. 5. ï¿½Once saved, always savedï¿½ (1/24/14) Read John 15:1-10; Acts 1:15-17, 24-25; James 5:19-20. What the Bible really says: John 15:1-2, 6 ï¿½ ï¿½I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.

He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. ... If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up. ï¿½Once saved, always saved,ï¿½ like yesterdayï¿½s non-verse, is a doctrinal point held by many Christians, even though itï¿½s not stated anywhere in the Bible. Although there are five major points of traditional Calvinist doctrine, this one seems to be held by lots of ï¿½one-point Calvinists.ï¿½ My personal position is that Iï¿½d like it to be true but I suspect itï¿½s not. John Wesley argued strongly that it is not true. The scriptures we read today (among others) argue against it: Jesus urges strongly that we remain in his love, lest we wither and be thrown into the fire. Peter says that Judas was ï¿½one of us,ï¿½ but he left by his own choice.

James promises great rewards to anyone who ï¿½brings backï¿½ someone who has wandered away. As I understand the UMC doctrine on this point, it is that you can choose to become unsaved, but itï¿½s somewhat difficult to do by accident because God is always trying to get you back. 4. ï¿½Love the sinner, hate the sin.ï¿½ (1/27 /14) Read Matthew 5:43-48, Psalms 97:10, Proverbs 8:13, and Amos 5:15, Zechariah 8:16-17. What the Bible really says: Matthew 5:43-45 ï¿½ ï¿½You have heard that it was said, ï¿½Love your neighborï¿½ and ï¿½hate your enemy.ï¿½ But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

This non-verse apparently came to us from St. Augustine via Mahatma Ghandi. Not only is ï¿½Love the sinner, hate the sinï¿½ not in the Bible, but neither is ï¿½love the sinnerï¿½ nor ï¿½hate the sin.ï¿½ The Biblical position is that I am required to love everyone, no exceptions. Many passages tell me to love my neighbor, my enemies, and everyone in between; telling me to love the sinner is such an obvious redundancy that the Bible skips it. Not only that, I find only three verses (in Psalms, Proverbs, and Amos) that tell me to hate anything whatsoever at all. The scripture references above contain every single thing I could find in the Bible on what we should hate. Surprised? Hate is bad for us. Most hate is sinful. You and I should concentrate on loving each other and hating our own sins exclusively. I suspect that when I love my neighbor perfectly, as God does, then I will be free to hate my neighborï¿½s sin, as God indeed does. 3.

ï¿½Be in the world but not of the world.ï¿½ (1/28/14) Read John 17:11-16; 1 John 2:15-16. What the Bible really says: John 17:11a, 17:15-16 ï¿½ I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. ... I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. While I was preparing this study, my Greek teacher said that years ago he would have bet his right arm and his car that that ï¿½Be in the world but not of the worldï¿½ was in the Bible exactly as it is often quoted! It might be a summary of John 17:11-16 and 1 John 2:15-16, but itï¿½s definitely not a verse in the Bible.

Summaries like this one, or like ï¿½Hate the sin but love the sinner,ï¿½ can be useful. These two arenï¿½t unbiblical in outlook, and they are easy to remember as guides to behavior. The problem comes when we start quoting them as ï¿½scriptureï¿½ because we donï¿½t know any better. For example, the unbeliever who checks up on us is liable to conclude that Christians are either ignorant or deliberately misleading, and this brings the faith into disrepute. Never take my word or everybodyï¿½s word for what the Bible says; read it for yourself. 2. ï¿½For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.ï¿½ (1/29/14) Read Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:1-4. What the Bible really says: Matthew 6:9-13 ï¿½ So pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ï¿½For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen,ï¿½ isnï¿½t in the version of the Lordï¿½s Prayer given in Luke (in the Sermon on the Plain). It isnï¿½t in the best Greek manuscripts or in very many modern English translations of Matthew 6:9-13 (in the Sermon on the Mount). It was added as a standard part of the prayer by the very early Church, probably in the late first century or early second century. The Lordï¿½s Prayer is intended for use by groups of Christians (you can tell by the pronouns, which are all plural). In my opinion, Jesus offered it as a model, not as a formula.

In Matthew, he specifically says, ï¿½Pray thus,ï¿½ not ï¿½Pray this.ï¿½ So itï¿½s fine that we use this doxology, just as long as we remember that we added it, and not Jesus. 1. ï¿½God helps those who help themselves.ï¿½ (1/30/14) Read Isaiah 41:8-14; Mark 9:14-27. What the Bible really says: Isaiah 41:10 ï¿½ Donï¿½t be afraid, for I am with you! Donï¿½t be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you ï¿½ yes, I help you ï¿½ yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! 41:13 For I am the Lord your God, the one who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, ï¿½Donï¿½t be afraid, I am helping you.ï¿½ 41:14 Donï¿½t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, men of Israel.

I am helping you,ï¿½ says the Lord, your protector, the Holy One of Israel. Mark 9:21-24 ï¿½ Jesus asked his father, ï¿½How long has this been happening to him?ï¿½ And he said, ï¿½From childhood. It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.ï¿½ Then Jesus said to him, ï¿½ï¿½If you are able?ï¿½ All things are possible for the one who believes.ï¿½ Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, ï¿½I believe; help my unbelief!ï¿½ ï¿½God helps those who help themselvesï¿½ apparently originated with Aesop and other ancient Greeks. Itï¿½s not in the Bible, and in fact itï¿½s contrary to what we learn from scripture. The whole point of the Bible is that God helps us because we cannot help ourselves. We are little children who have to hold onto Godï¿½s hand in the parking lot. God help us all!

ï¿½Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (1/31/14) Read Luke 6:27-36. Our final look at ï¿½well-known versesï¿½ not in the Bible brings us to ï¿½Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.ï¿½ Now, I was very surprised to find this on quite a few websites listing verses not in the Bible, so I looked at a number of translations (see below). Some translations have almost these exact words, and some have the order of the words the other way around. So I looked at the Greek, and I talked to my Greek teacher. The thing about Greek and English is that they donï¿½t put the words in the same order in sentences, and sometimes they donï¿½t even put the ideas in the same order. Iï¿½ve given you the exact word order in my own ï¿½translation,ï¿½ mainly so that you can see that translators have to make some changes to produce decent English. How many changes is a matter of judgment: make too many, and you end up with a paraphrase.

I would call ï¿½Do unto others as you would have them do unto youï¿½ a translation of vs. 31 (or possibly Matthew 7:12), but my Greek teacher calls it a paraphrase. Luke 6:31 (Reginaï¿½s word-for-word translation of the Greek) And just as you wish that do to you people, you do to them similarly. (KJV, ASV. RV) And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. (ISV) Whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them. (ESV) And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. (BBE) Do to others as you would have them do to you. (CEV) Treat others just as you want to be treated. (GNB) Do for others just what you want them to do for you. (GW) Do for other people everything you want them to do for you So our whole study comes down to this. Many ï¿½well-known Bible versesï¿½ arenï¿½t in the Bible in any way, shape, or form.

Some of them, like ï¿½Be in the world but not of the world,ï¿½ summarize or paraphrase material that is in the Bible. And occasionally people say that something isnï¿½t in the Bible when it really is. Read the Bible for yourself, and donï¿½t be fooled!

Question: According to the proverb, the road to hell is paved with what?
Answer: Good Intentions